Chapter Three: Allies and Rivals!
Again, I realize that this is not an original concept, but it's become a pet project at this point, so I am keeping the same plot line from when I first started writing this story.
Also you may notice that some scenes relate more to the anime and some relate more to the manga. This is just because I picked out whichever scenes I enjoyed the most.
Enjoy?
Disclaimer: If I owned it then I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.
...
"I can't believe I had to put up with that last night." The violet haired girl had grumbled along her way to school. She stormed into the classroom and looked around, most of the class had been seated already. She was a bit late, as usual.
Now where is that jerk? She glanced around before spotting a spiky mop of black hair. I never got a chance to question him. Akina made her way toward the Uchiha boy. The seat row Sasuke was sitting in was empty, all except for one other person.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Akina blinked with shock when she walked up to the boy.
"Why does everybody keep asking me that? Can't you all see the headband?" Naruto snapped, pointing towards his forehead. He was, indeed, wearing a Konoha headband.
Akina was confused, but merely sighed at the boy's reaction and held her hands up in defeat. "Well, anyway. Could I sit there?" she pointed to the space between him and Sasuke.
Naruto looked confused, glancing between the pair of cousins. Everyone knew the two of them didn't get along very well. "Uh…yeah, sure…I guess."
Just as Naruto was getting up to let her in the seat, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino both ran through the upper door at the same time, getting themselves stuck in the process. And, if that wasn't bad enough, after finally squeezing through, the both of them started fighting about who was first in the door.
Could they possibly be more annoying? Akina sighed in exasperation.
Naruto noticed Sakura and stared at her with a dazed expression, seeming excited when she looked over his way. Sakura smiled and ran toward them, in response Naruto stood up and waved. "Morning, Sakura!"
Akina, on the other hand, moved smartly out of the way. Sakura shouted "Move it!" and pushed Naruto onto the floor. The violet haired girl knelt down next to the blond, who was now upside-down on the stairs. "You really should have seen that coming, Naruto."
"Y-yeah..." He replied in a pained whisper.
Meanwhile Sakura gushed a "Good morning" in sweet tones while staring dreamily at Sasuke.
Akina rolled her eyes. But the Uchiha boy seemed to look right past Sakura, to where Akina was standing, making the Mizuto girl stare back in surprise.
Sakura asked if she could sit next to him, not even noticing the brief exchange.
Just then, Ino strode up and grabbed Sakura's arm, screaming about how she would be sitting next to Sasuke. Soon the two once again fought about who was first in the door and therefore had the right to sit next to the emo boy.
Akina rolled her eyes yet again. "Great… There's no way I can get past them." She muttered and glanced down to where Naruto had been tossed to the ground, but the blond was no longer there. Then Akina heard the girls yelling anew and she looked past them to see that Naruto was now crouched down on the desk-top, his face only inches from Sasuke's; the two of them were glaring death at each other.
All the rest of the girls started shouting as well, some telling Sasuke to hit the blond boy. It was at that moment that a boy from the row ahead turned and bumped his elbow into Naruto's leg, causing the blonde's face, particularly his lips, to crash right into Sasuke's.
The entire classroom fell into silence. You could almost hear the sound of twelve-year-old hearts shattering into millions of pieces. Akina started laughing.
The two boys pulled apart, gagging like they would both die from the contact. Sasuke choked out death threats while Naruto shouted dramatically about being poisoned.
Suddenly the feeling of bloodlust filled the room. Naruto was grabbed by the two girls and promptly beaten into a pulp.
Akina was still laughing; she couldn't help it.
Sasuke glared at her, wiping his mouth off, "It's not funny!"
She finally stopped and turned to smirk at the boy. "Yes it is! Naruto just single-handedly destroyed the dreams of all your fan girls by stealing the great Uchiha Sasuke's one and only first kiss!"
Sasuke was blushing so hard he looked like his head might explode, "That was in no way a kiss!"
The violet haired girl blew a mock kiss at him; by then the other girls were done with Naruto and turned to Akina with bloody intentions.
The Mizuto girl merely crossed her arms and glared at the other two. "Touch me and you die!"
They seemed to think better of fighting with her and returned to the matter at hand. Sakura took the seat next to Sasuke before Ino could. And so, cursing Sakura, Ino took the seat behind her, next to Shikamaru. Naruto recovered from his near meet with death and quickly took the seat next to Sakura, much to her displeasure.
And since all the other seats had been filled by then, Akina was forced to sit behind Naruto, next to a raging Ino-Inferno.
"This is what I get for coming to school late…" she sighed and laid her head on the desk.
...
After Iruka finally arrived to the classroom he began a long speech about the rank of Genin among Shinobi, how the three-man-cells work with a Jonin mentor, and other basic things that they would need to know as Genin. Akina hardly paid attention.
Blah, blah…why do teachers always think they have to make such long, boring speeches?
Iruka finished off by telling the class that selections were made so that every cells abilities would be equal. The entire class groaned in disappointment.
Iruka started calling off names. Akina stared a hole into the back of Sasuke's head.
…
"Cell number seven: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto…"
Naruto stood up and cheered, while Sakura looked like she would commit seppuku.
"Uchiha Sasuke…"
Now Sakura cheered, while Naruto slumped in disappointment.
"And…Mizuto Akina." Iruka finished.
Akina's head shot up at the sound of her name "Wuh?!"
Sakura stood. "But sensei, you said only three-man-cells, Akina makes four!" she shouted while pointing to the aforementioned girl.
"And pointing is rude, Haruno." Akina mumbled, causing the pink haired girl to quickly drop her hand.
Iruka sighed and nodded "I did say that, Sakura. But as we have an unexpected number of passing students this year, some exceptions were made."
Sasuke actually looked shocked by this news. Both Sakura and Ino glared fiercely at the violet haired girl.
"Kill me!" she groaned, slamming her head on the desk.
Iruka cleared his throat and looked back down at his list. "Next, Cell number eight: Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino."
Akina looked up again. Hinata's in Kiba's group... with that creepy Shino guy?
Having forgotten her anger at Akina, Sakura turned and held two fingers up in 'Victory' at Ino.
Ino growled. "How did you get in his group anyway?!"
Shikamaru sighed. "I don't get it. What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."
Ino glared at him. "You are so way beyond clueless, Shikamaru. Don't you get it?"
"No. I don't get it, 'cause I'm not a girl." He glared back.
"I'm a girl and I don't get it, either." Akina muttered sourly.
Ino smiled smugly, ignoring the other girl. "You are so full of yourself, Shikamaru. Jealousy is a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your team."
Akina snickered. "Yeah, like you're one to talk about Jealousy, Ino."
"Mind your own business!" Ino growled, raising a fist.
Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes.
"Cell number ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru…"
Ino gasped. Shikamaru laughed. "Did you say something about hating to be on my team?"
"And Akimichi Choji." Iruka finished.
Ino looked absolutely crushed.
Akina snickered again. Serves her right.
"And those are the teams." Iruka announced.
Naruto suddenly stood up and pointed at Sasuke, spouting something about how a "great ninja" like himself had been placed into the same group as a "loser" like Sasuke.
"Seriously, Naruto?" Akina rolled her eyes.
Iruka put his fists on his hips and gave Naruto a pointed stare. He explained that since Naruto managed to graduate after the teams had already been decided, they choose to place him - the lowest scoring student- with Sasuke - the highest scoring student - in order to even out the team.
Some of the class started laughing and the blond boy looked both angry and embarrassed.
"Just make sure you don't get in my way…loser." Sasuke taunted.
Akina rolled her eyes. You are both losers, get over it...
"Hey! What did you say?!" Naruto stood up angrily, his hands balled into fists.
"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke asked mockingly, smirking.
"This is going to be a nightmare..." The girl grumbled and pressed her face into the desk's surface.
The class laughed again, making Naruto even angrier. Sakura demanded that Naruto sit down and leave Sasuke alone. Sasuke snorted triumphantly. Akina was getting a headache.
Iruka cleared his throat, calling the student's attention. "After lunch you'll meet your new Jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed!"
Akina sat up and smiled at Ino and Shikamaru. "Take good care of him for me?"
Ino crossed her arms and glared. "You just keep Sakura away from Sasuke, you hear me?!"
The violet haired girl poked a finger in her own ear. "Loud and clear. But unfortunately for you I have absolutely no intention of interfering with Sakura."
The blond girl's glare hardened, but she didn't bother pressing the matter.
Akina sighed and stood from the seat. "I'm outta here!" she looked around, Sasuke had already disappeared.
...
All of the new Genin ate lunch with their respective teammates. All except team seven, that is.
After a while of searching, Akina finally found Sasuke standing outside a storage room window.
"Hey!" she called out as she jumped up next to him.
"Akina!" He sounded shocked.
The girl took a closer look at him. "…Naruto?"
"What? But how did you know? I thought my transformation was perfect!" The boy whispered in distress.
"It is. You look exactly like Sasuke, grumpy face and everything." she fought to hold back a giggle at the face "Sasuke" was making. "But I can just tell. I have my ways." the girl winked.
He looked down in embarrassment. "Oh. You don't think Sakura will notice, do you?"
"You're doing this to get closer to Sakura? Well, no…I don't think she would, but you should try to act more like Sasuke would. You know, cold and mean!" She scrunched up her face in an attempt imitate Sasuke.
Naruto/Sasuke laughed and nodded, smiling brightly. "Okay! Thanks, Akina!" then started to walk off.
"Oh, Naruto!" she called after him.
He turned to look at her "Yeah?" Somehow he managed to make Sasuke look cute with that innocent, confused expression.
"Where exactly is the real Sasuke? You know if he catches you-"
"Don't worry. I tied him up in there." He pointed to the open window with his thumb.
"Oh? Want me to keep an eye on him?" Akina asked sweetly, her smile transforming into and evil smirk.
He looked unsure for a moment, but nodded anyway. "Just don't untie him until I come back, okay?"
The girl nodded her agreement and waved when Naruto took off toward the park, then, peeking her head inside the window, Akina found Sasuke on the floor glaring up at her. His hands were tied to his back with ropes and there was tape over his mouth in an X shape. She laughed. Sasuke growled from under the tape, his glare hardening.
Akina slunk inside the room and kneeled down in front of him. "You know what? Rope suits you."
He growled again, struggling against the bindings.
"Now, now…" she waved a finger in front of his face. "You wouldn't want to spoil Naruto's little prank, would you?"
Another growl.
"What's that? You want to say something?" Akina smirked, then reached over and ripped the tape from his mouth.
"Ow!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry." she smiled sugar sweet. Revenge was such fun.
The dark haired boy moved so he was sitting on his knees and glared. "This isn't funny, now untie me!" He demanded.
The girl leaned closer and smiled cheerfully. "Not a chance!"
Sasuke struggled against the ropes again. "I swear, when I get out of here-"
Akina sighed. "You'll what?"
He growled again and tugged against the ropes.
The violet haired girl rolled her eyes "Oh, stop. You think I'm afraid of you?"
Sasuke just stared at her. "Why are you here, anyway?"
"Well, now that I have your complete attention and there's no one here to interrupt." she sighed again and sat down in front of Sasuke. "Why did you lie and say that Aunt Mai sent you out to find me last night? And why did you even bother to go out of your way to bring me home in the first place?"
The boy remained silent, his gaze turned away from Akina.
"Sasuke. Tell me." the girl demanded.
"Because I felt like it." he finally answered.
Akina blinked. "Because... you felt like it? What kind of reason is that?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "You know, I've tried really hard to just stay away from you-"
"I've noticed..." Sasuke interrupted, eyes cold and challenging.
"Don't you even dare to sound offended! It's your fault!" She snapped back.
"Yeah, okay. I get it..." He grumbled, shifting his position on the floor.
Both of them sat in silence for a long moment.
"You know what..." Akina spoke up, looking off into the distance. "Since we'll be on the same team, I guess we'll just have to tolerate each other."
Sasuke snickered. "I don't know if that's possible."
The girl frowned. "I'm inclined to agree..."
"So are you going to let me go or what?" He asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
Akina sighed. "Well…I suppose there's no telling when Naruto will come back…or if he'll even remember to come back…" she then took out a Kunai and easily cut though the ropes. "Though, honestly, you shouldn't need my help no matter how good Naruto is at tying knots."
After being released, Sasuke stood and silently walked toward the window.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she stood and chased after him.
"I'm going to find Naruto and beat the crap out of him!" he said before climbing out of the window.
Sheesh…guess I should follow him and make sure he doesn't kill the poor idiot…
...
They didn't find Naruto, but they did find Sakura.
The pink haired girl was sitting on a bench, completely alone. She noticed Sasuke immediately and jumped up off the bench before strolling towards them. She started spouting nonsense about Sasuke returning and asking if he was "ready". Sasuke ignored her completely, glancing around the park.
"Its official, Haruno has finally lost it." Akina snickered, also glancing around. Guess that means Naruto's already been here and left.
"What's she doing here?" Sakura pointed an accusing finger at the Mizuto girl.
"Didn't I tell you that it's rude to point?"
"Forget her. Where's that dick, Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.
"My guess is not here." Akina cut in with a shrug.
Sakura completely ignored the other girl and went on about how Naruto always comes between her and Sasuke. She crossed her arms and took on a smug expression. "It's because he was brought up without parents."
Now she had the full attention of both cousins.
"He doesn't have to answer to anyone and it's made him completely selfish." She went on about how if kids get in trouble their parents punish them so they won't do it again. "Kids without families always grow up selfish."
Sasuke was about to say something when suddenly a sharp "smack" reverberated through the trees. The boy blinked at the sight of Akina standing in front of Sakura, who was now sporting a reddening cheek. He hadn't even felt her move. The pinkette's head was turned to the side and her eyes were wide with shock.
"Don't you dare assume that you know anything about growing up without parents! You still have both of yours! Do you even have any idea how lonely it is? Naruto may do stupid things sometimes, but he's living all by himself, taking care of himself. He doesn't have a mother to cook for him or clean up after him. He doesn't have a father to help him train his Ninjutsu and tuck him in at night. It's just him. All alone." Akina held tears in her eyes, but she didn't dare cry. Not in front of such an ignorant twit. "If anyone here is selfish, it's you!"
With that said the Mizuto girl walked away, pressing past Sasuke, and headed back towards the school building.
Surprisingly, Sasuke had followed after her, leaving a very confused Sakura alone with her thoughts. Once Sasuke had caught up he grabbed Akina's arm, stopping her in her tracks.
"What?!" She snapped, keeping her face averted. She used her free hand to wipe at her eyes.
Sasuke grabbed onto her other hand, forcing her to look at him.
Her eyes were still filled with tears. Sasuke sighed.
"You... You actually hit her." He muttered.
"She deserved it." Akina replied venomously.
"Yeah." Sasuke leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Akina's. "I'm sorry."
"F-for what?" She felt a little uncomfortable; it had been a long time since the two cousins were so close.
"Doesn't matter." He remained there a long moment before letting go of her and stepping away.
"Sas-"
Just then Naruto came barreling around the corner, and, after almost bumping into Sasuke, the blond promptly fell over on his rear. "What are you doing here?!" the boy shouted as he pointed at Sasuke. He then spotted the violet haired girl standing next to the Uchiha. "Akina? I thought you said you wouldn't untie him?!"
The girl opened her mouth to explain. "But I—"
Sasuke suddenly stood over Naruto and smirked. "She didn't. It was a simple rope trick. Any good ninja is an escape artist. Try to keep that in mind…Loser."
Naruto didn't look happy. He made a hand sign and about five shadow clones appeared behind him. They were about to attack Sasuke, but suddenly they all stopped and ran away, shouting about the bathroom.
"What was that all about…?" Akina questioned.
Sasuke's eye twitched. "I don't even want to know."